5.5. Evaluating Communication Systems in Business

Communication breakdowns

Although communications systems are often both costly and sophisticated, they can still fail to work efficiently for a variety of reasons:

Poor management can give rise to unprofessional behaviour and personality clashes which can disrupt communications within an organisation. A lack of understanding of the need to motivate employees and involve them in the decision-making process can also lead to poor communications, with staff failing to understand the reasoning behind management decisions.

Poor design: communications systems may be badly designed or out of date. For example, a business with offices on more than one site may find it very difficult to maintain good communications and good staff morale if it relies only on the postal service for communication, Alternatively, a business might outgrow its existing communications network and find, for example, that its existing computer network regularly breaks down because of work overload.

Differences in language or culture or large geographical distances between staff in a firm can also cause problems as firms grow to multinational or global size.

Poorly explained or presented messages can cause confusion and misunderstanding. The sender of the message must have some understanding of the receiver and his/her previous knowledge in order to produce an effective and easily-understood message.

Prejudices: sometimes people interpret a message according to their prejudices – that is, they see what they want to see and not what is actually being communicated.

Internal politics: staff struggling to score points or win political games often attempt to distort communications by spreading rumour and gossip in order to further their own aims, rather than those of the organisation.

Physiological barriers such as hearing and sight impairment can hamper communication. However, communications can also be adapted for people with special needs. For example, sign language is commonly used to communicate with deaf or hard-of-hearing workers. This is a quick and surprisingly powerful language in terms of the kinds of information and contexts it can communicate. Braille can be used to communicate written text and numbers to blind people, with words and numbers being represented by a series of raised dots on paper or other surfaces – for example, on lift buttons. Computer programs are also available to convert text directly into Braille, and special keyboards with Braille keys have been developed for visually handicapped people.

Over-use of jargon: technical terms or ‘buzzwords’, such as ‘reengineering’, or obscure acronyms and abbreviations can be a barrier to good communications.

Monitoring effectiveness

Because of the rapid pace of technological change and the pressure to remain competitive, firms nowadays need to continually review the effectiveness of their communications system. The most important question to ask is:

How well does it meet business objectives? For example, if a business finds that its products are always out of date and that it is usually beaten to the market by competitors, this may indicate that its communication system is inefficient. Alternatively, a survey of staff morale and motivation can reveal a great deal about the operation and workings of internal communications within an organisation.

Does it offer cost advantages? Information exchange is now faster than ever before and accuracy has improved, requiring less labour and power input. For example, a table of data can be sent in a matter of seconds via a telephone link between computers, compared to a fax machine, which takes longer and where quality of reproduction can be poor.

Does it offer value for money? Compared to its cost, how well does the system do its job? Are there cheaper ways of doing things which would work just as well? For example, there is little point in a small firm investing thousands of pounds in building a wide area network if it is not going to be used to send and receive messages and share software applications. New communications equipment can be very expensive.

Does it provide accurate information? It is essential that information sent and received by a business is error-free. For example, fax machines, although extremely useful, are not the best method for reproducing small characters. For example, if a faxed order is illegible this could mean that a supplier may deliver the wrong quantity of materials.

How easy is it to use and access information? What do the users of the system both inside the firm and outside, including customers and suppliers, think of it? Communication will be ineffective if users have difficulty operating the equipment or if those organisations you wish to contact, via fax or Email for example, do not possess the necessary equipment. However, new systems may pose a threat to security if communications can be intercepted by unauthorised personnel. Access might need to be restricted in some cases to protect the confidentiality of important business information.

What is the speed of access? Paper-based communication – for example, sending a letter or data by internal mail or external post – can e slow, Technological advance has allowed us to send and receive information from anywhere in the world in just a matter of minutes - for example, via electronic mail.

What is its impact on information exchange? Because of improvements in the speed and cost of data exchange, interaction between individuals and business organisations has increased. Firms are now able to learn of conditions in world markets, such as strikes or wars in countries supplying raw materials, and be able to react immediately to minimise the impact on their business. Much information is freely available on the Internet.

What is its impact on users? Prolonged use of computer screens and keyboards can impair eyesight and result in repetitive strain injury (RSI) in users’ fingers and wrists. Increasing demands on users for up-to-date information and skills to operate a variety of equipment can also cause stress.

Is training adequate? To ensure that full and effective use is made of new communications equipment and systems, a business also needs to make sure that users are adequately trained. No matter how user-friendly computers and other equipment are today, some basic training will be necessary if employees are to use them to send and receive information. However, training can be expensive.